The Lost Heiress
by Vertigo Rage
Summary: Magnolia finds out she is a witch when Dumbledore comes to the house she lived at with her grandparents. They had known since she was born, her mother having been one before she died, but had kept it from her. This is a tale of how she finds out who she really is and where her past lies. Will the darkness prevail? Rated M for future violence and smut. Eventual Severus/OC/Lucius.
1. Prologue

For all those readers that are reading my story, _Finding the Moon,_ you know this story is only being posted because I need time to write another chapter for my first fanfiction. My ideas seem to have his a writers...dam? Not really a block, the ideas are there just coming more slowly. Hopefully my dam will break soon and the words will pour onto a page, or rather the computer.

Anyways, this fanfiction will end up being alot darker then my first, so be warned. And this prologue is about my main charaters mother, just so you're not all confused by why this chapter is about one person and they rest is of another. You'll learn more about her mother throughout the story.

Please enjoy.

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**December 1926**

"Push! I can see the head, just a little bit longer and your baby will be here." The doctor told the exhausted and weak women giving birth. Merope pushed as hard as she could before letting out he breathe she had been holding.

"I can't," She cried in desperately. "I'm so tired, I don't know if I can do this much longer."

"Just a few more pushes and you'll be done, just hang in there. Push!" The weak mother-to-be pushed once more with all her might and was rewarded with a loud cry. "It's a perfect little boy." The doctor said, clipping the umbilical cord and handing the baby to his mother.

Merope took the boy gently in her hands, eyes half-lidded and fluttering, struggling to stay open. "I'll name Tom," she said with a sigh. "Tom Marvolo Riddle. After his father. I do so hope he looks like his father."

There was a gasp from the doctor between her legs before he said, "There's another one, another baby. I'm sorry to say but you have to push again."

A nurse came and took Tom away from Merope's arms. A cry came from her at the loss of her son in her arms before the doctor said, "Push now!"

The poor exhausted women began pushing again. There were tears pouring down her face as she grew weaker with each push. After several minute there was another cry and the doctor said, "It's a girl, a beautiful baby girl." She cut the cord and tried to put the girl in her mothers arms but they were to weak to support her.

Merope pulled a bracelet off her wrist and said in a fastly fading voice, "For my daughter, her name will be... her name..." Before she could finish, the bracelet fell from her fingers and hit the floor, her eyes becoming dull and her head falling to the side.

There was a panic as the doctor and nurses cried to revived the new mother but nothing they did worked. After ten minutes of trying they finally gave up.

The doctor went to the room that the two babies were in, sleeping in the same cradle after eating from a wet nurse. A nurse was watching over them, when she saw the doctor and asked, though she could guess the answer from his face, "Is the mother alright?"

"No. She's passed on now." He said going over to the two orphaned babies. "How are their vitals?"

"Their strong. The boy, tom, is 7 pounds and 15 ounces and the girl is 7 pounds and 13 ounces. They both are breathing very good and their heartbeats are normal." She said looking at the chart. "The boy was born at 11:57PM on the 31st of December and the girl was born at 12:04AM on the 1st of January. Exactly 7 minutes apart."

The doctor gave a small sad laugh, "Twins, who would have thought. Their mother didn't even look big enough to be having one, let alone two. If there had only been one, she may have had a chance." He smiled as he watch the little boy reached out in his sleep and grabbed his sisters hand. "Their be sharing things their whole lives, at least they can say they don't share the same birthday." The doctor looked up and noticed the nurse holding something along with the chart. He pointed at her hand that was clasped shut and asked, "What's that you have there?"

"This?" She asked holding out her hand for the doctor to see. The doctor nodded at her, "A bracelet, Merope said it was for the girl before she was able to name her."

He took the piece of jewelry from the nurse and examined it. It was made of silver and was in the shape of a snake eating its own tail. It had a pair of emerald eyes that seemed to be staring straight into his soul. It was very detail and life-like, each of the snake's scales clearly visible. It was a bit eerie to the doctor, who looked back down at the babies, "So we have a boy with a name and no gift and a girl with a gift and no name."

* * *

**June 1927**

"How old did you want your child to be?" Mrs. Carted asked the couple standing before her.

"Under one year, so there's no attachments but old enough to not need to be feed every other hour, that would be too much of a hassle, even for the maids." The wife said with the husband nodding in agreement.

The couple were obviously rich, they had arrived in a shiny black town car that's worth could probably have feed the kids at the orphanage for several years, at they could pay for someone to drive it for them. The man was wearing a suit that looked tailored to him and his shoes looked freshly shined. His wife was draped in a fur coat and real pearls hung around her neck and on her ears. Mrs. Cart thought they looked quite stuck up too. "Alright, I'll bring you to our infant room. We have five under one year, two boys and three girls."

"I was thinking I wanted a girl, hopefully you have one that looks similar to us. That would be perfect." Mrs. Carter looked back at the couple and frowned slightly as she stopped at a door.

"I think we do, come in, let's see what you think." She opened the door and let the Sluvens in before her.

Inside the room there were four cribs lined up on one wall with a rocking chair and changing table on the one opposite. the very back wall had a few bins with toys in them. There was a woman in the rocking chair holding a blonde haired little boy that was fast asleep. She looked up when the three entered and smiled at them, saying, "Quiet please, I just got him to sleep." She got up and placed the boy in one of the cribs.

"You can go for now, I'll get you when we're done here." Mrs. Carter said. The woman left and the couple looked at the kids. they didn't glance at the boy in the crib, they wanted a girl and he was blonde regardless, not looking anything like them.

The wife went up to the oldest looking of the girls, which had brown hair like theirs. When the child looked up she smiled at the new people, holding her arms out to be held, but once they saw her blue eyes Mrs. Sluven said, "No, I don't think so. if only you had brown eyes like ours, then you could pass as ours." The second oldest girl was the opposite of the first, with blonde hair and brown eyes, the Sluvens eyes passed over her as well. The last girl was playing with a boy that looked similar to her but with shorter hair, they even looked to be the same age.

She had straight brown hair and when she looked up at them, brown eyes too. Best of all she was the cutest of the three girls, with features that were surprisingly perfect for a baby, same as the boy she was playing with. Mrs. Carter saw the small smile on the woman's lips and said, "This is the girl I thought you'd like. The boy is her twin brother, Tom. We were hoping to keep them together if possible."

"Well, we really only want one. If it makes a difference, we can pay more if you'll separate them." David Sluven told her.

Mrs. Carter sighed sadly as she looked at the playing twins. She wished she could keep them together but she had known from the beginning that it would be near impossible to do. Besides that, they really need the money, they were running low on a lot of things around the orphanage and it had been a long time since they had received a donation or since someone had come in for an adoption. "Very well, let's get the paperwork done before you take her." The three left, they woman from before coming back when she was called.

The paper work took half and hour and at the end Mrs. Carter asked them, "What would you like to name her, she doesn't have one now but we need one to put down on these forms."

"We decided on Lacina before we got here." LUcy Sluven said. Mrs. Carter nodded as she put that name on all the forms. When it was all done they went back to the room with the babies and found the twins sleeping together with their heads leaning together and theirs hands in each others.

"We tried to keep the min separate beds at first but they would always cry and wake the others unless they were with each other." Mrs. Carter said with a sigh. "I really hate having to wake them up." She sighed again before reaching in and picking the girl, Lacina, up from the crib. Her eyes fluttered open and her lip began to tremble as a cry came from the crib. "Here, take her before she wakes all the way up, rock her gently as you go and she might fall back to sleep."

Lucy took the girl and rocked her as the couple left the room. when they got in the car and began to drive away, the hum of the car put her back to sleep.

Back at the orphanage, baby Tom was thrashing about in anger and sadness. No soothing from Mrs. Carter or anyone would settle him down. Eventually he cried himself to sleep as Mrs. Carter rocked him gently. Looking down at him she said, "Poor Tom, now you're all alone. Hopefully you'll be adopted soon as well."

* * *

**August 1938**

"Really? I'm a witch?" The little brown haired and eyed girl said with excitement in her eyes.

"Yes, you are and I would like to invite you to go to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry." Said the auburn haired man in odd clothing.

"Are there other schools like yours.?" Lucy Sluven asked with a look of distaste, obviously not liking what was going on with what was supposed to be her perfect daughter.

"Well, yes there is Beauxbatons in France, it is an all girls school but-"

"An all girls school would be best for her I think, don't you think so David." Lucy said, interrupting him.

"Yes, I think it would be better that way." David Sluven said with a stern face.

"But mom, dad, France is so far away." Lacina whined at her parents.

"Well, I don't want you around boys all day, who knows what kind of trouble you'd get into with them." Lucy told her daughter firmly.

"Fine, whatever you say mother." Lacina said sadly.

The old wizard named Dumbledore told them he would ask someone from Beauxbatons to come by before he got up to leave. Lacina stopped him at the door before he could open it and asked, "Sir, may I ask you something?"

"Of course, Miss Sluven, what is it?"

"People like me, us, you knjow, witches and wizards..." She began nervously.

"Yes, what is it you were going to ask?" Dumbledore askede, curious to know what had the girl tongue-tied.

"Well, can they talk to snakes? Because, um, I can. Is that normal?"

Dumbledore's eyes went wide at that, suprised by her question. Only a few days ago a boy from an orphanage had asked the same thing. Though there was something uneasy about the encounter with the boy, this meeting with the girl made him like her, without even knowing her well. But even so, when he replied it was with a grim voice that he told her, "No, there aren't many alive that can talk to them. You are of a rare talent young lady. Don't forget that, no matter what anyone says about your ability." With that he was out the door and walking down the driveway.

Lacina watched him walk away and only when she couldn't see him when he rounded a turn in the driveway did she head back to the sitting room her parents were in. She heard her parents talking with slightly raised voices and stopped before turning the corner into the room.

"I knew there was something wrong with her, strange things have been happening around her ever since we adopted her." When Lacina heard those words she had to put a hand over her mouth to stifle the gasp that left her lips. She never knew she was adopted, she looked so like her parents that it never even crossed her mind.

"Good thing they have a school in France, The farther away the better. We don't want word of this unfortunate... affliction that has falled over our daughter to leak out." A tear leaked out of Lacinas eye, said that her parents, adopted or not, cared more about their social image then the happiness of their daughter. She slowly left the hallway and went out to her room where she stayed for the rest of the day.

* * *

**October 1945**

Lacina was in the wizarding town near to her school Beauxbatons getting some much needed supplies that she was running low on. She was currently at a stationary store buy scrolls and ink. As she was going up to the register to pay, she bumped into some and dropped everything. One of her pots of ink broke open and got on all of her parchment.

She swore quietly as she bent down to pick everything up but before she could grab anything she heard a few muttered spells that fixed the inkpot and removed the ink from the parchment, returning it to the jar. All her stuff then levitated up and into her waiting arms. She looked up into a pair of dark forest green eyes. "Thanks." She told the blonde before her, unable to think of anything esle to say.

"No, problem, I'm sorry for walking into you. I'm Adrian Barton by the way." He said with a smile as he held out his hand.

She shifted everything into on arm, "I'm Lacina Sluven." She said taking his hand, noticing the warmth of his hand. It was smooth but lightly caloused, showing he wasn't afriad to work. That made her smile as him, already like him.

* * *

**September 1960**

It's a girl, congradulations, Mrs. and Mr. Barton. She looks perfect." The doctor told the two beaming, and it the mother's case exhausted, parents. "Would you like to cut the cord, Mr. Barton?"

"I'd love too." He took the scissors from the doctor and cut where he as instructed to. The nurses cleaned her up quickly before giving her to her mother.

"She's beautiful, Adrain look at her, she's just perfect." Lacina said with tears of happiness in her eyes.

"What will you name her?" The doctor asked.

"Magnolia." Adrian said with a smile. "She will be Magnolia Barton."

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Please review and tell me what you think of my new fanfiction. I would really love it if I could hear what you all liked about it.


	2. Invitation

I think like I should apologize to all my readers, for I feel I have been neglecting you all as well as my stories. I have not been posting consistedly and I feel horrible for it. I just hope that this chapter is good enough for all of you. Please enjoy.

Any characters from Harry Potter are J.K. Rowling and the rest are mine.

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Magnolia was in the backyard near the forest when he arrived. She had found a garden snake, or rather it had found her as snakes tended to do, and she was having a conversation wit hit. It wasn't the first time she'd talked to one, she was 9 years old when it first happened. When her grandparents had deemed her old enough to go outside without her nanny watching her every move.

Truth be told it had terrified her the first time and she had ran off to her grandparents. When she told them what had happened, there had been a look of fear in their eyes and they had yelled at her about how crazy she sounded. they told her if they ever heard such lies from her again, she wouldn't be allowed outside without supervision again.

The next day she went out again, though she was a bit scared, and it happened once more. A snake came slithering towards her, as though seeking her out. Instead of funning like the day before, she stood her ground and watched as it came closer. When it was near her, it stopped and she said, "What do you want?" It came out in a hissing language she had never heard before and though she was frightened by it as much as the snake talking to her, her curiosity out weighed her fear.

"I wanted to see you, to see if what I felt when I came here before was true. And I see that it is." The snake said in the same slithering words.

"To see if what is true?" She questioned the snake.

"I passed by yesterday, and felt drawn in a way I've only ever felt once before, a long time ago. That other time, I was drawn by the Heir of Slytherin and yesterday, I had believe it was he who was near. And now I know, that you are an Heir as well."

"An Heir of Slytherin? What is that? What are you talking about?"

For the rest of that day, the snake told her the little it knew about Slytherin, what the other Heir had told him the day they had meet. That she's had ancient magic running through her veins.

That wasn't the only snake to come to her over the years, but it was the only one that decided to stay with her, to keep her company. It was long, brown on top with a creamy white stomach, a mamba it told her, named for the blackness of his mouth. His name was Lavesus and he had once been someone's pet a long time ago, when he had gotten to big his owner threw him out in the streets. He had meet the other Heir during that time, and would have stayed with him like he had for Magnolia. But when he had been out hunting for food one day, someone found him and he was put into a zoo. It was not long before meeting Magnolia that he had finally escape.

* * *

That day she was in the backyard with a common garden snake when her old nanny Jenny called her inside.

On her way in Lavesus stopped her shortly saying, "Don't tell him about being able to talk to us. People in the magic world don't like people like you."

"I know, Lavesus, you've told me this before." She said before continuing inside and into the living room where Jenny had told her to go.

When she entered, she noticed her grandparents looking nervous and weary. She then noticed an old man with a long mostly grey beard in an odd looking suit and a pair of glasses that had twinkling blue eyes behind them.

"Magnolia, do sit down." Her grandfather David said. "This is Headmaster Dumbledore and he would like to speak with us about something."

Magnolia walked over to her favorite high backed green chair by the fire, perched on the edge, and looked towards the old man with curiosity, asking as she did, What is it you wanted to tell us, sir?"

"I would like to formally invite you to Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry."

Magnolia placed a confused look on her face, which wasn't hard because though she knew about magic, she hadn't known there was a school for it. "Hogwarts? Witchcraft? What are you talking about?"

Dumbledore had a momentary look of shock on his face as turned to Magnolia's grandparents, both of whom had guilty looks on their faces. "Surely, your grandparents have explained everything to you?"

"Explained what?"

Dumbledore looked back at her with a saddened expression. "That you are a witch, Miss Barton. Just like her mother and father before you. Lacina was a master potioneer and Adrian was a master herbologist. They were the best in all of Europe and many people traveled to France to buy their potions and potion ingredients."

"France? My parents lived in France?" Magnolia asked, for though she knew a little about magic and her Slytherin blood, what little Lavesus knew about it, he knew nothing about her parents or which her Slytherin blood came from.

"Yes." Dumbledore said. "They lived in Paris and owned their own business of growing and selling potion ingredients and in many case, simply making the potions for people and selling them. they were very successful and had an abundance of money saved, all of which is now yours. And though hour mother never went to Hogwarts, I knew her well because I visited her shop many times over the years. I'm sorry you had to hear this from me. I had assumed the Sluvens had already told you. I'm sorry Miss Barton." He added when saw Magnolia was crying. He offered her his handkerchief, which she accepted and wiped her tears away.

"No, it's not your fault, I'm sure they had a good reason to not tell me." She said with a pointed look in her grandparents direction.

Reluctantly, her grandfather said with slight repulsion lacing his words, "We didn't tell you because she hoped that you wouldn't become one of them."

"Mr. Sluven, I know you probably didn't know this, but when both parents have magic, then the majority of the time the child will as well. If one of them had been a Muggle, a non-magical being," Dumbledore explained when Magnolia had a confused look on her face, "then it could have been possible for her to have been a Muggle as well."

"Well, we didn't know that! We hoped that she would turn out like a normal person, unlike her mother. We didn't tell her just incase she wasn't." Her grandmother said with a little anger.

"Yes, well know that you know that, would you accept the invitation of going to Hogwarts?"

"No, she'll be going to Beauxbatons, in France, just like her mother did." Mrs. Sluven said before Magnolia could say anything.

"Don't you think it's fair that I choose where to go, considering you've been hiding this from me my whole life." Magnolia said loudly to her grandparents.

"You're too young to make that kind of decision, we know what's best for you, don't argue about it."

"You don't know anything when it comes to magic, so how can you even say that you know best. Why don't you ask someone who actually does know? Professor Dumbledore, which to you think would be best; Hogwarts or Beauxbatons?"

"Hmm, Beauxbatons is a very fine school." Dumbledore stated with a look of thought on his face. "But Hogwarts has a record of the greatest witches and wizards passing through its walls. Why, Merlin himself attended Hogwarts and his is on of the most widely known wizards of all, even Muggles know him. Besides that though, Hogwarts is closer then Beauxbatons, so you could visit your grandparents easier during the holidays." Dumbledore finished with a smile, the twinkle from earlier returning to his eyes.

Magnolia's grandmother's face was slightly red with anger and her grandfather looked like he was holding back disappointment towards Dumbledore, he had obviously thought Dumbledore would have sided with him. But he had been utterly wrong.

"Fine." Lucy Sluven spat. "You can decide where you want to go. I only thought you would want to go to Beauxbatons to experience what you mother did."

"Well, I want the best, so I want to go to Hogwarts." Magnolia stated firmly.

"Wonderful decision." Dumbledore said before there could be any more arguments between them. "Here is a list of everything you will need." He gave her a list and with a glance at her grandparents asked, "Will you be taking her to get everything or should I send someone to come and help her?"

"Send someone, like Magnolia and you both said, we know nothing about that stuff. We'd only be wasting out time trying to figure it out." David Sluven said with an exhausted look on his face, obviously wanted this all over and done with.

Excellent, I shall send Professor McGonagall tomorrow at noon if that is all right. She'll help you find everything that you will need before the end of the week, which is when the students are to arrive at Hogwarts. She'll answer any other questions you may have then." Dumbledore told them, standing. "Now, if you don't mind, I'll show myself out.

* * *

Once Dumbledore had left, there was an awkward silence for several minutes. Then Magnolia broke the silence by saying in a quiet but strong voice filled with contempt, "You lied to me my whole life."

"We had hoped that you wouldn't be a witch like your mother. How were we to know that you'd be once because your father was one as well." Her grandfather said.

"That's not what I'm talking about and you know it." Magnolia told them sharply. "I could have forgiven you about that, but you lied about my parents. You told me they were no good losers, that they ran around getting into trouble. You told me they were nothing buy druggies that would have abandoned me eventually if they hadn't died first." She was glaring at her grandparents, both of which were looking away in slight fear. But absent was the shame she thought they might have felt at lying to her.

"well... We had hoped that you wouldn't find that out either. If you thought your parents were bad people, you wouldn't ask questions about them that we didn't want to answer."

"And you were wrong. I did become a witch and I did find out the truth. That's something I will never forgive you for." Magnolia yelled at them, glad to the fear her yelling evoked in them. She wiped the tears that were in her eyes away and walked swiftly out of the room, and up too her bedroom. When she got there she got into her four poster bed and buried herself under the purple comforter and pulled a pillow over her head.

Once she did the trickle of tears that had come from her eyes in the living room became a waterfall as she cried for the parents she would never know. The parents she had once thought were horrible people only to find that her grandparent had lied to her about everything in her life.

It wasn't long before Lavesus came, asking her when he did, "My dear Slytherin girl, what troubles you?"

"My grandparents," Magnolia told him. "They lied to me my whole life. they lied about my parents." When she looked up at him, her dark brown eyes were red and puffy and her dark brown hair was askew from her head being among the pillows. Silent tears were sliding down her creamy white cheeks and her full red lips had a slight tremor to them.

"My parents weren't the bad people like my grandparents said. They lied to me my whole life about them. In the end they just showed me that they are the bad people. They are despicable, horrible people." Hearing the hate and sorrow in her voice, Lavesus slithered into her lap and comforted her.

They stay in the bed most of the day, her grandparents never coming up to see if she was alright. Only Jenny came, Lavesus hid when she did, to comfort her like she always did when her grandparents mad her upset. Soon Magnolia became tired and she fell asleep early that night, Lavesus curled up next to her sleeping form.

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Please review this chapter. I would love to hear what you all think of this story thus far.


	3. Diagon Alley

Hey everyone, here's a new chapter for you all. I'm sorry to say that I don't know when I'll be posting the next chapter for this story or my other one. I just haven't had and motivation to do much of anything lately. I will try to do something, but no promises.

Hope you all enjoy.

anything that sounds familiar isn't mine, but everything else is.

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Magnolia stood in front of her full-length mirror adjusting the hem of her knee-length black skirt so it was perfect. She wore a short-sleeved purple silk shirt over the top and a pair of shiny black shoes that had silver snakes as buckles. Her long brown hair hung pin straight to the middle of her back, not a strand out for place, as always.

When she was satisfied with her appearance, Magnolia grabbed her coat and said the Lavesus, "I'll see you when I get back. Are you sure you don't want to come with me?"

"No, you go alone; I don't want to be around a crowd, to many people who might step on me. But don't worry, I'll be here when you come back and I will be going with you when you leave for Hogwarts."

"Alright then, I'll see you later." She said as she was walking out her door to go downstairs. She did not have to wait long before there was a knock on the door and Jenny came to tell her that Professor McGonagall was waiting at the door.

Magnolia walked to the door and said, "Hello Professor, it's a pleasure to meet you." McGonagall was a middle-aged woman of average height with dark brown hair pulled into a tight bun and brown eyes behind a pair of glasses. She was wearing a floor length green dress that reminded Magnolia of the odd clothes Albus Dumbledore had worn the day before.

The professor had a smile on her thin lips as she responded. "And it's a pleasure to meet you as well, Miss Barton. I'm happy to be able to meet you before school starts and help you acquire everything you need."

"I appreciate the help, shall we be going now? Jenny would you tell my grandparents I've left and will be back later."

"Yes, of course I will." Jenny said.

"Don't you grandparents want to see you before you leave and meet me? I'm sure they'd like to know who you'll be with." Professor McGonagall asked her with a confused look.

"My grandparents don't particularly like magic, I think they had enough of it with my mother and it's just worse that I have it as well. Jenny will let them know I've gone though."

"If you're sure, then let s go."

Magnolia turned and gave Jenny a hug before following the Professor out of the door and down the long driveway and past the gates. They walked down the street to the large park at the end of the block.

"Where are we going?" Magnolia questioned.

"To Diagon Alley," replied McGonagall. "We will be Apparating there and since this is a Muggle neighborhood we must go to one of the designated Apparation points so the Muggles don't notice. The closest one to your home is here in the park."

"What's Apparating?"

"It's a kind of instant transportation. You can Apparated anywhere as long as there are no wards preventing it but in the Muggle world, it is best to go to Apparation points, which are warded so that Muggles cannot see when you disappear. Once you turn 17, you will be able to Apparate for yourself but for now, you will have to Side-Along. Hold my arm and prepare yourself. It can be quite nauseating the first time."

McGonagall offered her arm and Magnolia took it, instantly feeling a twisting and squeezing feeling in the center of stomach. It felt as though she was being pulled at both ends, as if her body did not quite know which way it was supposed to go and when if finally stopped a moment later she was in a completely different place.

Magnolia immediately bent over and put her hand over her mouth in an attempt to prevent her breakfast from coming up. She stayed in that position was she tried to control her stomach. Once the queasy feeling became bearable, she stood upright and looked around herself.

She was in an alleyway with McGonagall's hand on her back asking if she was all right. Magnolia saw that they were not that far into the alley, only ten feet in front of her there were people walking past on the street. The Professor led her out onto it and she notice that unlike the Muggle street they had been on not minutes ago, this one had no road or cars. The streets were filled with people though, parents with their children, getting ready for the coming school year like her.

"First we'll stop at Gringotts's to withdraw some Galleon from your vault." The Professor told her. "Then we'll go to Ollivander's to get you a wand."

"Is that where all the money my parents left for me is? In a vault?" Magnolia asked with interest.

"Yes, your mother knew Dumbledore very well and had it in her and your father's will that if they were both to die, the key to their vault would go to him until you were old enough to go to Hogwarts."

"Okay." Magnolia said in a quiet voice, feeling a little overwhelmed by everything going around her. She followed McGonagall down the street towards a large building with huge doors leading into it. The inside had unbelievably high ceilings with magnificent crystal chandeliers filling the place with light. They walked down the center of the room, the sides of which had multiple desks with many goblins writing away, not looking up as the two of them past.

Magnolia stared at them wide eyed and with, having never seen anything like them. The two of them walked to back of the room where there was a tall counter with another goblin behind it. He barely looked up when he said more than asked them, "Name."

"Magnolia Barton, Professor McGonagall said for her.

"Vault Number."

"Seven six nine."

"Key." At this, the Professor pulled a small box from her pocket and opened it to pull out an old looking key.

The goblin behind the counter waved another one over. This new goblin escorted them around the side of the counter to the doors that were behind. There they climbed into an odd contraption that Magnolia thought looked like a roller coaster seat at had a wheel behind one of the seats. The goblin took this seat and the two of them sat in the seats behind. As soon as they were all seated, the contraption began to move forward and gained speed.

McGonagall put her arm around Magnolia's shoulders when she noticed she had a green tint to her skin at all the twists and turns that they were taking. For several minutes, they drove onwards until they gradually slowed and finally came to stop next to a ledge that had a large metal door with a keyhole in the center and a round silver doorknob just above it. They goblin took the key from McGonagall and inserted it into the keyhole. There was a soft grinding sound before the goblin twisted the door know, opened the door and stepped aside to let them enter.

Inside there were piles of gold, silver and bronze coins. There we several wooden trunks around the vault, some of them open, a few with neat stacks of books inside, one with an assortment of jewelry spilling out of the rim and the rest shut tight. The thing that caught Magnolia's eye was at the back of the room. It was a pedestal that when she approached she found that there was a small box on it with a small piece of paper folded in half. The outside of the paper read, "For Magnolia." When she unfolded the paper it said, "Open in private."

She took the box off the pedestal and turned to see McGonagall looking at her with curiosity. Magnolia told the Professor, holding out the piece of paper. "It says to look at it in private; I'll open it when you take me back home."

The Professor took the note and read it before looking back at Magnolia with a smile, "That sounds fine. Now let's get some coins." Taking out a drawstring purse, she put a handful of each type of coin into it, and then handed it with as well as the note to Magnolia. "Here, this is your money, so you can hold onto it."

Magnolia put the box into her coat pocket, but the purse with all those coins in it were too large to fit into one. So instead, she asked McGonagall, "Could you hold it until we go back to my house please?"

"Of course. Now we must be going. We have to get your wand at Ollivander's." She said as she headed towards the entrance of the vault. When she noticed that Magnolia was following she turned around and said, "Well, come on, we've got to be going."

"Can't I have a look at some of the stuff in here? It all looks so interesting." Magnolia said with a slight pleading tone laced into her words.

The Professor sighed and told her, "I wish we could, but I don't want to chance there being wards on any of the items. Besides we must get all your supplies before it gets too late."

Magnolia did not let her disappointment show as she slowly nodded her head and said, "I understand." She finally walk to the entrance of the vault and followed the Professor out.

They went back up the way they came and out the front doors. As Magnolia was descending the few steps in front of Gringotts's, her foot caught on one of the cobblestones and she fell forward. She got her hands up in time to land on her hands and knees and found herself starring at a pair of highly polished shoes beneath pants made of the finest fabric she had ever seen.

"Lucius, help the poor girl up, we don't want her groveling at my feet in public, that would be embarrassing." A deep and silky voice remarked casually with a hint of amusement.

Magnolia saw a pale long-fingered hand reach in front of her face and when she grasped it, she noticed that it was very soft and smooth. The hand pulled her to her feet and she had to look up to she the steel-grey eyes of its' owner. The boy was at least a foot taller than her four-foot six-inch height, with skin as pale as her own and long platinum blonde hair that was held back in a loose pony-tail. He wore pants as fine as the man who must be his father by the looks of it, with a dark grey bottom up shirt over the top.

"Thank you." Magnolia said to the boy, whose name must be Lucius going by what the man had said.

"Mr. Malfoy, there is no need to be rude, I'm sure it was an accident. Magnolia, please apologize to Mrs. Malfoy so we can be on our way." Professor McGonagall.

"Now whose being the rude one, won't you introduce us to this stunning girl? I don't believe I've seen her around before." He gave Magnolia a smile when he saw the slight blush that appeared at his compliment.

Professor McGonagall sighed heavily. "Very well. Mr. Malfoy, Lucius, this is Magnolia Barton. Magnolia, this is Abraxas Malfoy and his son Lucius Malfoy."

"Pleasure to meet you, sir. I'm sorry about falling in your way a moment ago." Magnolia said apologetically.

"I think a pretty thing like you can be forgiven. Barton...hmm... the only Barton s I've heard of are from France and I thought the last of them died years ago." Abraxas stated.

"Magnolia is the daughter of Lacina and Adrian Barton of France. When her parents died, Lacina's adoptive parents took Magnolia in and cared for her. They are Muggles and kept her magically heritage away from is why you have never seen her before." The Professor told the Malfoys.

"Poor thing, being raised by filthy Muggles and kept from your true potential." The senior Malfoy said with a sneer on his face a pity in his voice. "It must have been horrible, forced to live like those vermin when she you could have blossomed into something magnificent."

"Mr. Malfoy," Professor McGonagall said sternly. "I ask that you wouldn't talk so foully in front of her, those are her grandparents your talking about. I'm sure they loved and cared for her just fine."

At this, Magnolia barely held in a disgusted laugh. Lucius seemed to notice, because he smiled at her and asked in a voice as smooth as his fathers, "Why don't we ask Magnolia how her grandparents were towards her?"

Magnolia frowned and told them, "Considering they never let me out of my rooms when people are around and they have never let me go off our estates, it's hard to believe that they love me. They only ever look at me with resentment and have never once said they loved me. As far as caring for me goes, they left that to the servants. I wasn't even allowed to go to school, instead I had private tutors. It doesn't help that they knew what I was my whole life and I had to find out about it from a stranger. Worst of all they lied to me about who my parents really are." She look at them with an expression that was a mix between sadness and anger as she finished. "So, no. I don't really think that they loved me much at all and I can't say I loved them either."

McGonagall looked stunned at Magnolia's words and the Malfoys both had smiles of satisfaction on their faces, though Lucius's was tinged with slightly with sadness towards her.

"You see, even a girl raised by Muggles doesn't like them. Just watch with a few years immersed in magic, any Muggle tendencies she may have will be gone." Abraxas said with a smirk directed towards McGonagall. "And if she's fortunate she may just grow up to be a good Pureblood lady."

"We really must be going now. I'll see you at school Mr. Malfoy. Magnolia, come along." McGonagall said with a scowl directed at the Senior Malfoy as she pulled Magnolia behind her by her arm. Magnolia glanced back to get a last look at the Malfoys and that's when she noticed the cane in Abraxas Malfoy's hand. More importantly, she noticed the head of a silver snake with emerald eyes on the top of the cane. Her eyes went wide and she looked up at the Malfoys again before being pulled into the crowd by McGonagall and losing sight of them.

There was a moment of silence before Magnolia asked Professor McGonagall, "What's a Pureblood?"

The Professor sighed but said anyways, "I had hoped you wouldn't learn about that just yet but I supposed you should know before you go to Hogwarts. A Pureblood is a witch or wizard who has no Muggle blood in their family history. If a Pureblood and a Muggle have a child together, they are considered half-blooded and there are many Purebloods who dislike half-bloods. What some Purebloods despise more than a half-blood, is a Muggleborn, a witch or wizard who has two Muggle parents. Some Purebloods don't mind either half-bloods or Muggleborns but most will tolerate half-bloods as long as they become disassociate with their Muggle family members."

"Oh, am I a Pureblood than, since both my parents had magic?" Questioned Magnolia.

"Your father was from a very Pureblooded family, one that unfortunately you are the last of. But your mother's blood-status remains a mystery. As far as anyone is concerned though, you are a Pureblood. There is no proving otherwise." At this point in their conversation they had arrived at a shop and were standing outside it's door. "Now, let's get your wand, we've been delayed long enough."

Fifteen minutes later, Magnolia and the Professor came out with Magnolia's new wand, a 10 inch cherry wood wand with a dragon heart-string core. From the tip down there was a spiral pattern, that looked to her like two snakes wrapping themselves around and around each other, until at the grip end the spirals faded away.

The rest of the day went by with no problem, they got all her books, her uniforms, things for her potion's class and various other necessary items. Between each shop, Professor McGonagall explained to her the Houses of Hogwarts and how she was the head of Gryffindor House, the point system and some of what her classes would be, such as learning Transfiguration from her.

As the were about to go, Magnolia spotted a few other kids coming out of a store called Eelops Owl Emporium and Magical Menagerie with various animals. Considering this she turned to Professor McGonagall and asked her, "Are students allowed to bring pets to Hogwarts?"

McGonagall turned to looked at her as well, "Students are allowed to bring animals to Hogwarts as their familiars, as long as the animal doesn't harm any of the other students. Do you want to buy an animal to bring along with you?"

"I don't need to buy one, I have an animal at home that I'm going to bring." Magnolia said with a smile.

"Really? What kind of animal is it?" The Professor asked curiously.

Her smile turned slightly wicked as she responded, "It's a surprise."

McGonagall looked at her for a moment before saying, "Alright then, Magnolia. Now, it's time to get you and your things back home." When they arrived back at Magnolia's house, her grandparents were waiting in the living room for them.

"Good afternoon, Mr. and Mrs. Sluven. How as your day?" Professor McGonagall asked them politely.

"Just fine. Did you get everything that she needs?" Mrs. Sluven replied stiffly.

"Yes, of course. Let me get it for her." She took out what looked like a tiny toy trunk and set it on the ground as she muttered a spell under her breath. As the trunk enlarged to its original size, Magnolia's grandparents turned slightly pale and seeing this, Magnolia in turn felt a smirk appear on her face at their show of fear. "Everything she needs is in her, her wand, books, uniforms and other things she may need."

"Good, now Magnolia, will you escort Professor McGonagall out." Though it asked as a question it came out sounding more like an order. Ignoring her grandmother's tone, she nodded and led the Professor to the door.

When they got there, McGonagall turned to face Magnolia, handing her the purse, which now had many less coins in it. "I put your fault key in there as well. In addition, here are your instructions on how to get to Hogwarts Express and to get on the train that will take you to Hogwarts. You must be there before noon this Friday." She handed her a piece of with the directions on it. "It was a pleasure to meet you Magnolia and I can't wait to teach you once you arrive at Hogwarts."

"I enjoyed spending the day with you and meeting you as well. Good-bye Professor." Magnolia shut the door behind her and put the purse of coins in her pocket now that it fit. She turned to go back to the living room to get her trunk but once she got there, it was gone."

"Where's my trunk?" She asked her grandparents who sat drinking their tea innocently.

"You'll get it back when you leave for Hogwarts, you have no need of that stuff while your still here." Her grandfather replied casually, as though she had done nothing wrong.

"But I wanted to read some of my books before I got there. So I'm not completely clueless when I go." The anger evident in her voice and the glare she was sending her grandparents seemed to put the slightest bit of unease in them.

"You'll have all the time you want when you leave for school and you won t get your stuff back until then, no matter what you say or do. Now go to your room if your going to be so disobedient."

Magnolia, knowing she wouldn't get her stuff back anytime soon, merely glared at them until they looked away and began to fidget a little, before storming out and upstairs to her room. When she got there, she sat in one of the chairs that looked out over the back lawn and garden of the mansion.

She just sat starring out the window for a long time. She finally stopped when she remembered the box in her pocket and took it. Opening it up, she found a piece of paper folded multiple times inside. It read:

_Dear Magnolia,_

_If you are reading this, then I have died before being able to give you this gift. I only hope that you were old enough to remember your father and me. If not, I fear you are probably only just learning about your magic. Knowing my parents, you were probably told lies about us as well. Whatever the case may be, know that your father and I loved you very much, with all our hearts. There is one thing I must tell you about our ancestry, the only thing I truly know about it. YOur may or may not know at this point of your ability to speak with snakes, this is called Parseltongue and only the Heirs of Slytherin are blessed with this gift. I know there is one other out there like us, but how closely related his is, I do not know. Whether or not you choose to go find this person is up to you. I was content with not knowing, but you may be different. Included is a bracelet, it is the only thing that I have from my parents; I have had it since I was in an orphanage. It is my gift to you, wear it to remember me._

_With All My Love, Lacina Barton_

Magnolia had tears streaming down her face as she pulled the bracelet out. It was made of silver and in the shape of a snake eating its own tail. The snake s eyes were made of emeralds and it had tiny scales that could be seen it great detail. She smiled at it as she put it on her wrist. It was a bit big on her small wrist but as she watched, it shrunk until it fit perfectly against her skin.

It was then that she noticed Lavesus was lying in her lap. Magnolia quickly wiped her tears away and asked him to hide the fact she had been crying, though it was useless, "Have you ever seen anything like it? A bracelet that fits to your wrist?"

He hiss in amusement at hiding her discomfort before saying, "No, but it's probably normal in the magical world."

"You re probably right. And guess what? I don't have to sneak you to Hogwarts; Professor McGonagall says students are allowed to bring an animal with them if they want." Magnolia said with a bright smile."

"That's good to hear, though you will still have to sneak me out of your house."

"That's true." She said.

Magnolia avoided her grandparents for the rest of the week. She spent most of her time in the backyard, talking to Lavesus and other snakes that she wouldn't see for a while. The rest of the time, she was in her room reading books and getting clothes and other things she wanted to take to Hogwarts ready. The only person that came to talk to her before Friday was Jenny, who would bring her food and talk to her.

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Please review and tell me how you think the story is going so far.


	4. The Hogwarts Express

Hello everyone, sorry for the long wait. I had no motivation to write anything, so it was put on hold until I did. Hope you all like what I have for you though.

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The day that Magnolia had to leave for Hogwarts, there was no avoiding her grandparents if she wanted to get the things she needed to take with her. She approached them when they were having breakfast saying, "Grandmother, grandfather, I'm going to need my trunk and wand now. Will you please give them to me?"

Her grandmother sighed heavily as she looked towards her husband, "I suppose we have to, at least that stuff will be out of the house. No damage can be done here with the ridiculous stuff gone."

"I guess there's a plus side to me leaving then. You wont have to hide me in my room when guests are around, I wont be able to cause any damage if I'm not here. Sarcasm and scorn were dripping from the words she spoke to her grandparents. "Where did you put my stuff?"

"I'll have Edgar put it in the car that Jenny will be taking to drop you off in." Mr. Sluven replied.

Magnolia wasn't surprised that they weren't going to drop her off, but still she asked, curious of what their excuse would be, "You're not taking me?"

"I don't see why we would. There's no point in involving ourselves with magic, only bad things come from magic." Her grandfather said, oblivious to the darkness that appeared in Magnolia's eyes at his words.

"Besides we have a meeting with a new salon and spa owner who wants to start a partnership with our company so they can use our products in their spa." Mrs. Sluven told Magnolia.

"Yes, I suppose making people pretty and making money in the process is all that you care about. That's all that ever mattered to you. I wonder, if I was ugly, if you would have kept me." Magnolia hissed at them. "You never did care for me anyway, regardless that I had a pretty face or not. Otherwise you wouldn't have lied to me about my magic or my parents."

"Don't you start arguing with us, you disrespectful little brat. If you knew what was good for you, you'd shut your silly mouth or else we might keep you here." Magnolia's grandfather threatened.

Magnolia held what she had been about to say back, a furious look on her face at the thought of them keeping her here against her will. Her grandfather smirked at this and yelled out, "Edgar!" When the butler came he was told, "Get Magnolia's trunk from our room and put it in the town car Jenny will be using." Edgar gave a slight bow of his head as he left the room to do as he was asked.

"Now what do you say to your dear grandparents." Mrs. Sluven asked innocently.

"Thank you grandmother, grandfather." Not a single emotion could be heard in her voice or seen on her face, as she mask her outrage that she had to thank them.

She ran after Edgar and caught up to him as he was coming out of her grandparents room. "I need somethings out of there, please." She said politely.

Edgar smiled at her, "Of course, Maggie, anything for your sweet face."

"You know I hate when you call me that Edgar." She said teasingly as she opened her trunk and pulled out one of her uniforms with a set of robes, her box that had her wand in it and her Defense Against the Dark Arts book.

"Yes, I do know." He said as he picked to trunk back up, walking towards the stairs. Magnolia watch him walk away with a smile on her face, then turned and went to her bedroom.

When she got there, she put on her knee-length dark grey plaited skirt and white button up shirt. No tie yet since she wasn't sorted yet, though she already knew which house she would likely be in. And she didn't put her robes on yet, since they would looked strange to any Muggle who saw them. She slipped her wand out of its box, admiring it for a few moments before putting it in one of her robe pockets.

"Lavesus, come here, I want to put you in my robe until we get on the train. I'd put you in my trunk but I don't want you getting hurt."

"While I doubt I would let myself get hurt, I must say being in the comfort of your robes sounds much more appealing." He said as she slithered over to where she was standing so she could pick him up and wrap him in her robe before leaving her room.

Magnolia went to find Jenny, who was waiting for her in the entrances hall for her. Jenny asked her, "Do you have everything you need?"

Holding up her robe and the DADA book she said, "Everything else Edgar put in the car already."

"Good, let's go then. We don't want you to miss your train." She said as she held open the front door for Magnolia, then going to the back door of the car waiting for them and opening it as well. Jenny then went to the driver's side and started the car, driving it done the long drive and out of the gates once they opened for them.

"I'll miss you when your gone, Maggie. You've never left the house and I can't help but feel worried about you just leaving now."

"I'll miss you as well Jenny. And Damon, tell him I'll miss all the times he came over." Damon was Jenny's son, who was three years older than Magnolia and was the only kid that she had ever met. He came over sometimes after school and hung out with her and despite their age difference they were amazing friends.

"Oh, I will, I'm sure he'll miss you as well. Maybe you can write each other." Jenny had a bright smile on her face that Magnolia was able to see through the rear-view mirror.

"I'd like that, maybe I will." She sad with a smile back.

They spent the rest of the ride to Kings Cross Station in a comfortable silence, with Jenny driving carefully and Magnolia flipping through the pages of her book, memorizing them with a glance. When they got there, Jenny helped Magnolia get her trunk out of the car and onto a cart before she asked her, "Do you want me to take you to the train, Maggie?"

"No," came the response from Magnolia, who knew she wasn't to let Jenny know of her magic. "I can find my way from here, if I need help I can ask someone in the station. Thanks anyways though."

"Alright." And with that Jenny pulled Magnolia into a tight which was quickly returned, before giving her a kiss on her forehead. "Now off you go, and remember to write."

"I will." Magnolia said as she pulled away and began walking into the train station. She pulled out the paper Professor McGonagall had given her with the instructions and read it carefully. It read, _Go to Platform 9 3/4 between Platforms 9 and 10. Watch for other students and parents to know what to do._

Looking up from the paper, she began looking for a sign that would direct her to Platforms 9 and 10. Once she found her way there she began looking for kids that had uniforms similar to hers. She spotted a boy who was faced away from her looking a the wall of a pillar. As she started to approach him to asked where she as supposed to go, he began to run towards the wall. She was about to yell out to the boy to watch out, when the boy went straight through the wall.

Magnolia was so stunned that she stood there for a few moments just looking at the place he had disappeared. When she saw another kid do it as well, she snapped out of her little daze and ran at the wall to get through. She closed her eyes just before she hit the wall and slowed down when she felt no impact. When she opened her eyes back up, there was a pillar like the one she'd run through that read _9 3/4._

"Amazing." She said with a silly smile.

Going over to drop her cart off, Magnolia pulled her trunk off of it as she pulled it behind her, silently thanking Professor McGonagall for getting one with wheels to pull it with. With her small frame it was heavy to pull one armed, the other still occupied by her book, robes and Lavesus. When she went to enter the train car she had to yank it rough up the few stairs in order to get it in.

Once that was done, she walked down the aisle, passing several older kids as she went until is found an empty compartment to sit in. She stowed her trunk under the bench seat and sat down, placing her book on her lap and her robes beside her.

Lavesus quickly found his way out of the robes and settle on top of them, "It is alright for me to come out now, yes?"

"It should be fine, McGonagall said we're allowed to have pets, so I don't see a reason why you shouldn't be able too."

"Good, because however warm it might be in those robes, its much nicer to have some fresh air to be able to breathe."

Magnolia laughed at him as she responded, "Yes, I can imagine that. "

Just as she was opening her book to continue flipping through it, she heard a loud voice from the aisle yell, "Move it, Snivellus, you're in my way." As that moment a pale, black-haired boy fell just outside the opening of her compartment.

A foot came down on his back as he started to get up and the same voice came from the long brown-haired owner of the shoe. "You should just stay down, I think you're in need of the taste of floor after the break we gave you for summer." The boy kept walking after that, three other boys following behind, all but the last sandy-haired boy stepping on his back.

Magnolia had jumped up when it all began, and she now went up to the fallen, "Are you alright?" She asked him as she helped him to his feet.

"I will be." He said as he wiped his front off. He looked down at her from his taller height, he was at least eight inches taller than her, and then at the compartment behind her before asking, "May I sit with you? The rest of the compartments are full."

She gave him a small smile as she respond, "Yes, that's fine with me." The dark boy picked up his fallen trunk and walk in once Magnolia stepped to the side. When he walked past her she saw the foot-prints on the back of his white shirt and she reached out and grabbed his arm.

He roughly pulled it out of her grasp as looked back at her with an odd expression on his face that she couldn't quite place. "What?" He snapped at her.

Magnolia's eyes were wide as she told him shyly, "You have shoe prints on your back, I was going to ask if you wanted me to wipe them off?"

"Oh." He said apologetically, "Yes, that would be nice." He turned his back to her and she quickly wiped the dirt off. "Thanks." He said as she finished and they both took seats opposite of each other.

They sat awkwardly for a few seconds before Magnolia held out her hand to him and said, "I'm Magnolia Barton, what's your name?"

The boy shook her hand firmly as he replied, "I'm Severus Snape."

"Pleasure to meet you." She said with a small smile.

"And you as well." He said politely back.

The two young kids sat in silence for a few minutes again until a blonde head appeared in the doorway of the compartment saying, "There you are Severus, I've been looking for you everywhere." His eyes drifted to Magnolia and a smirk appeared on his face as he. "What a coincident, you've already met Barton here."

"You know her?" Severus asked with surprise.

"We met for a few moments in Diagon Alley while my father and I were shopping. She was with McGonagal." He responded as he came in with his trunk and tried to sit next to Magnolia. She was about to tell him to be careful of Lavesus but was too late as he went to push her robes over.

Lavesus rose from his sleeping position on the robes and hissed at the tall boy. Lucius back up a step at seeing the deadly snake as he watch Magnolia reach for him without care and say, still in English, "Oh calm down, will you. He meant no harm."

The two boys stared at her stunned for a while, Lucius having changed his direction and sitting next to Severus. It was Lucius who finally broke the silence, saying to the girl across from him petting the snake, "So, that's your snake?"

"Yes, his name is Lavesus." Magnolia said as she looked over at them. She noticed their green and silver ties and gave them a small smile before continuing, "You'd think a couple of Slytherin boys would know how to handle a snake."

The boys bristled a little at this and Severus responded, "Of course we do, we were just surprise. We weren't expecting to see a snake on the train."

"Would you like to hold him? He wont bite." She said with a wicked grin as she held out her arm that Lavesus was draped over.

Lucius cross over the seat he was originally going to seat and reached over to pet Lavesus' soft skin as he asked her, "It's a Black Mamba, correct?"

Magnolia nodded as the Severus said, "They aren't native to England, how did you get it?"

"I found him on the estate grounds, not sure how he got there really." She lied easily then continued. "But he was docile when I found him and has never tried to hurt me."

"Hmm, he must have been someone's pet before you found." The dark-haired boy told her as he reached across and finally touched the snake in Magnolia's hands.

"That's what I thought to, only thing that makes since, unless he escaped from a zoo."

"Well, he's a cool pet, regardless of how you got him." Lucius told her. "I wish I could have a snake of my own. My father wont let me have on yet though, he says I'm not old enough. How'd you get your grandparents to let you keep him. I thought you said they hate you or something."

"If they knew I had him, they would have gotten rid of him a long time ago. I was smart enough not to tell them when I found him." Magnolia said with a frown at the mention of her hated grandparents.

"You don't live with your parents? Why not?"Severus asked her curiously. "And why do your grandparents hate you?"

A look of sadness overcame her face as she explained, "My parents died before I could remember anything about them. My father was the last of the Barton lineage from France and my mother was adopted by my grandparents who have no other relatives, so they are the ones that I went too. They hate me, just like they hated my mother because we both have magic."

A dark expression overcame Severus face at what he heard. He was silent for a moment before he asked her, "They don't hurt you, do they? Because they don't like you?"

"What do you mean hurt me? Like abuse me?" At the boy's nod, she told him. "No, the only neglect they ever gave towards me is a lack of love and caring towards me. They ignore me as much as they can, and with the size of our estates thats easy enough. And I think I hate them as much as they hate me, I at least have a better reason for hating them."

"Why's that? What they do? I mean, other than the obvisious hate towards you."

"You're being rather talkative Severus." Lucius said to the other boy. Turning to Magnolia he said, "I'm lucky if I can get a conversation about anything other then our studies from him."

Magnolia looked at the boy across from her with a critical eye, taking in his long skinny limbs, long black hair and pale skin. He held himself stiffly, sitting straight-back as opposed to Lucius leaning back lazily against the seat comfortably. Remembering the way he had pulled his arm quickly from her grasp when he first came in, Magnolia suspected there had been a bruise there.

Now understanding why Severus had asked whether her grandparents hurt her, she answered his question, "I hate them for never telling me who I really am, a witch. I hate them for never letting me go out of the estates, for not letting me know anyone but they people that work there. This is the second time I've been off the estates, the first time being when I met Lucius. The only reason they let me go was so they don't have to see me for most of year.'

"But mostly, I hate them because they've lied to me my whole life, telling me my parents were horrible people who wanted nothing to do with me and that they would have left me if they hadn't died first." At the end of her speech she had a hard look of hate on her face for her grandparents.

"They sound like horrible people." Severus said to her.

"They are, I'm very glad to get away from them." She said. A silence came over the cabin before Magnolia broke it, "I'm going to keep reading my DADA book, if you two don't mind." She said with a smile towards her, picking up the book beside her.

"No, that's fine by me." Lucius told her with a sigh, "Since Severus is likely to follow by your example, I might as well do the same." He opened his forgotten trunk and pulled a book out of it. Severus followed opened his as well, pulling a tattered one from his.

The three of them spent the rest of the long ride reading their books, Magnolia getthing through her first one and opening a second. Explaining to the two boys, who were shocked at how fast she read, that she didn't really have to read the pages, just look at them and she would be able to remember everything on them.

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Thanks for the read, Hopefully the next one wont take as long to get out.


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